The Grocer – 13 January 2018

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8 | The Grocer | 13 January 2018 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

New wholesale regs

pushed Interbev Ltd

into administration

Edward Devlin
Fast-growing drinks
wholesaler Interbev Ltd
was pushed into admin-
istration a er new HMRC
alcohol regulation ham-
mered revenues and
drained its cash ow,
according to a new report
li ing the lid on the
collapse.
It owed creditors more
than £5m at the time of
the failure late last year,
with unsecured trade
suppliers, including the
likes of Diageo, AB InBev,
Heineken and Barcardi,
unlikely to be repaid.
The Berkshire-based
business, which sold
beers, wines and spirits
direct to retailers, cash
& carries, international
distributors and import-
ers, had grown rapidly
since being formed by
Stephen Brogan in 2008,
with sales soaring from
£7m in 2009 to more than
£60m by 2016.
However, new regu-
lations brought in by
HMRC under the Alcohol
Wholesale Registration
Scheme in the second
half of 2016 hit the com-
pany. As well as needing
to meet the new regu-
latory requirements,
Interbev had to ensure
its UK supplier and cus-
tomer network were also
compliant.
The company exited
some relationships where
it was unsure about the
customer’s compliance
with the new scheme to
ensure approval, accord-
ing to the report  led by
FRP at Companies House.
The move immediately

wiped more than £1.5m

of regular monthly rev-

enues from Interbev’s

top line, and monthly

turnover decreased from

£4.8m in October 2016

to £2m by March 2017,

which put a strain on

working capital.

Due to the reduction

in sales, the cash posi-

tion deteriorated quickly

as the business could not

generate enough invoices

to drive its asset-based

lending facility, FRP

added.

“The liquidity crash

has a ected the compa-

ny’s ability to purchase

stock, creating a down-

ward spiral of reduced

revenue and pro tabil-

ity,” the report said.

“Given the rapid nature

of this adverse working

capital  ow, the directors

initially could not reduce

their overheads by su -

cient levels to maintain

pro tabi l it y.”

FRP was engaged to

provide turnaround

advice in April 2017, with

Interbev taking steps to

try to improve perfor-

mance, including sell-

ing o slow-moving stock

and reducing customer

payment terms.

It also re nanced its

working capital facilities,

but wasn’t able to replace

the £1.3m of lost trade

 nance to purchase stock

from suppliers.

FRP also assisted with

a proposed company

voluntary arrangement

(CVA), a formal process

used by struggling busi-

nesses to buy time with

creditors.

However, Diageo,

which was one of the

company’s largest credi-

tors and was owed more

than £700,000, refused

to support the CVA and

threatened to issue wind-

ing-up proceedings, the

report said.

A notice of intention to

appoint an administra-

tor was  led at the end of

September to protect the

business from potential

winding-up proceedings.

Interbev’s direc-

tors subsequently put

together an o er to buy

the business as a going

concern in a pre-pack

administration. But the

deal failed to win the

support of the Pre Pack

Pool – an independent

body set up by the gov-

ernment that o ers an

opinion on purchases of

troubled businesses by

connected parties.

Interbev ceased trad-

ing and appointed

administrators from FRP

on 8 November , with all

remaining 11 sta made

redundant.

Booker said non-tobacco sales rose 5.9% in the quarter

Booker recorded strong

growth in the third quar-

ter, despite a drag from

falling tobacco sales.

The wholesaler, which

is closer to completing a

£3.7bn merger with Tesco

a er receiving CMA

clearance in December,

said non-tobacco sales

rose by 5.9% in the 16

weeks to 29 December

2017, with non-tobacco

like-for-likes up 6.2%.

Group tobacco sales

fell by 2.6%, with tobacco

like-for-likes down 2.1%.

As a result, total sales

Booker reports strong

third-quarter growth

were up 3.4% and like-

for-likes were up 3.8%.

Both the catering and

retail sides of Booker

Group made good pro-

gress, it said in a n update

this week. Premier con-

tinued to grow and

Budgens and Londis

were “performing well”.

“Booker Group had

another good quarter

with like-for-like non-

tobacco sales up 6.2%.

We continue to ‘focus,

drive and broaden’ our

business ”, said CEO

Charles Wilson.

Diageo, which was owed

more than £700,000,

refused to support a CVA

and threatened to issue

winding-up proceedings

Spar will this month

launch a training scheme

to tackle sexual miscon-

duct in the workplace.

Spar MD Debbie

Robinson told

Convenience Store that

she had been develop-

ing the programme since

November last year.

Robinson said Spar

had been unable to  nd

a suitable existing train-

ing course and was there-

fore developing its own,

using feedback from an

in-house team that is

evenly split from a gen-

der perspective.

“The idea for this

Spar course to tackle

sexual misconduct

training course has been

about for some time.

It is about setting and

maintaining standards

of professional behav-

iour, to understand what

is acceptable or not,”

Robinson said.

“Our approach on this

training is to build the

behavioural standards

with a representative

group of employees from

across the organisation.

So, when we come to roll

out it out to everyone

else, we will have advo-

cates and ambassadors

of the behavioural stand-

ards already in place.”